Hidden
by Jillian Ryn
Summary: AU No one suspects the boys in the fourth year Gryffindor dorm to be the infamous Marauders. Everyone knows they hate each other... Don't they? The secret would have died with them if it weren't for a beautiful girl with red hair.
1. Beginnings

Title: Hidden

Author: Jillian Ryn

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the universe. They belong to the lovely and creative J.K. Rowling.

Summary: (AU) Hogwarts hasn't been able to discover the true identify of "The Marauders". No one suspects the boys in the fifth year Gryffindor dorm. Everyone knows they hate each other... Don't they? The secret would have been taken to the grave if it weren't for a beautiful girl with emerald eyes.

Rating: PG-13

Distribution: Ask and you shall receive.

... ...

The Gryffindor common room was filled with laughter. The infamous Marauders had pulled another flawless prank and Hogwarts was alight with theories and guesses on who the pranksters could be.

Some believed it to be the sixth year Gryffindor boys, a group who was carefree and wild and who proudly broke the rules and openly ignored the professors. The boys had often said that they would like to take credit for the creative and daring pranks, but that they couldn't steal the glory away form the true rule breakers.

Others believed the fifth year boys in Ravenclaws were the culprits. The fact that the pranks began the year the Ravenclaws arrived caused many to people suspect them. They were, said those who believed them responsible, no doubt, smart enough to pull it off.

Still others thought it was the fifth year girls from Hufflepuff. A few even believed that the pranksters belonged to Slytherin and that the many pranks pulled on Malfoy, Snape, and the house in general were used to shy the hounds of their trail.

However, no one in the school suspected the fifth year Gryffindor boys. The notion never passed through any of the students heads. And if, for some reason, it did, the idea was quickly pushed away. It was a well known fact that the four boys who occupied the fifth year dormitory despised each other. So much so, that they could barley stand living in the same dormitory and had actually gone as far as to ask Dumbledore to move them. A request he had strongly refused.

Sirius Black was one of these boys. He was, as Lily had once described him, the poster child for popularity. He was the clean cut, preppy athlete ever parent wanted their child to turn out to be. His dark brown, almost black hair was cut short and stylish in the newest fashion. His dark chocolate eyes were as soulful and innocent as his smile was sweet and charming. His body, which was a side effect of long practices and hard games as a beater on their house Quidditch team, was always a popular subject with the female population of Hogwarts. He was easily the most popular guy in fifth year. He fulfilled his self assigned duties of popularity happily, dating all the right girls and picking on all the right "losers."

James Potter was Sirius' room mate and was, not only, one of the so called loser but also Sirius' favorite target. It was easy to see why James Potter, the nerdy book worm, and Sirius Black, Quidditch god, didn't get along. James was the exact opposite of Sirius in every way. Where Sirius' almost black hair didn't have a strand out of place, James' brown strands were out of control. His hair seemed to get messier and messier the more he brushed or charmed it. He had long ago given up trying to control it. Now his hair constantly had the I-just-rolled-out-of-bed look that on someone with more confidence would have been attractive. Girls often swore they could drown in Sirius' deep chocolate eyes, there were no such comments about James'. His hazel eyes were hidden by wire rimed glasses Sirius had once described as the "most pathetic ever made." James had a goofy smile that most found oddly endearing. He was tall and skinny and always seemed to be uncomfortable in his own body. He had the top marks in all of his classes and was often found in the library trying to escape the wrath of his popular room mate, who if given the chance would mercilessly make fun of him. Many wondered why he was placed in Gryffindor, as Ravenclaw would have obviously suited him better seeing how smart he was and how afraid of Sirius he always appeared to be.

Remus Lupin, the third room mate, also had a personality that clashed with the others. He was the stereotypical bad boy. Many referred to him as the lone wolf, a term he had always found amusing. Remus skipped countless classes and would disappear entirely for a few days each month. No one knew where he went but rumors flew around the school each time he disappeared. He had a fang earring and it was rumored that he also had a tattoo on his back, of what was unclear. Some believed it was a lion, others a wolf, one girl even swore it was a rose. Remus, like Sirius, had a way with women. Many had admitted it was the mystery that drew them to him, although his looks hadn't hurt matters. Remus had wavy sandy blonde hair that girls died to run their fingers through. His eyes were a cloudy gray that clearly showed a hidden pain. He was usually quiet, but when he did speak everyone listened. Remus and Sirius hated each other with a passion. It was a well known fact that Remus believed Sirius to be a "pathetic poser" that "was nothing but a sheep" while Sirius often referred to him mockingly as "the lone ranger." Remus couldn't stand James who in his words was a goody-two- shoes, always waiting to rat him out. Everyone assumed that James was terrified of Remus.

Peter Pettigrew was the final occupant of their dormitory. Peter could only be described as the nice guy. Girls often referred to him as a cute teddy bear. Peter had curly blonde hair and striking blue eyes. His round, rosy cheeks and rich laugh made everyone trust him immanently. He was slightly chubby and he used this to his advantage, often making jokes about him self. Peter was friends with everybody but not really close to anyone. It was hard for everyone to see why the other boys in his room didn't get along with the blonde, but each boy had their excuse.

At least, that's how they presented themselves.

It was easy to see why no one would ever suspect those four boys to be the infamous Marauders. The idea in itself was ludicrous.

They couldn't even stand to be in the same part of the common room.

Remus sat by the fire, silently staring into the flames. Even though his eyes reflected the light from the flames, they were dark and no one dared to bother or approach him. He was brooding, something he could often be found doing. Remus hadn't been seen for two days before this and he looked unusually tired. The few people that dared to get close enough noticed a new scare on hi arm. It was small, but jagged and still pink.

Sirius sat in the middle of the room surrounded by people, discussing the newest prank. Sirius believed it was the sixth year Gryffindors. He had to stick by his house after all. He had is arm slung around Lily Evens, a beautiful red head with eyes so green they hurt to look at. She was easily the most popular girl in their year. Lily also had top grades and many considered her a shoe in for perfect and eventually Head Girl. Lily and Sirius had been close since the welcoming feast their first year, when they wound up sitting next to each other. The pair was constantly flirting and with Sirius' track record nobody understood why he and the most beautiful redhead weren't together. The truth was that Sirius never tied for anything more than friendship, a fact that Lily was constantly grateful for.

James sat by an open window that over looked the lake and forbidden forest. He was studding for a test in potions, his worst subject. Books were stacked all around him, taking up all the room. His glasses had slid all the way to the tip of his nose and were threatening to fall off. He paid no attention to them as he chewed on the bottom of his lip and scribbled down a few notes. Like Remus, no one dared to bother him.

Peter sat on the bottom steps of the boy's dormitory, along with a couple other Gryffindor. The group was laughing loudly at a joke Peter had said. When the subject turned to the Marauders no one noticed that Peter became uncharacteristically quiet and that he blinked more times than normal.

No one, not even the teachers, not even Dumbledore, would ever suspect four boys who couldn't stand the sight of each other to be able to pull off the most daring and complex pranks ever seen in Hogwarts.

Which was just how the boys liked it.


	2. Meetings in a Tower

It was two days after the full moon and Remus was still exhausted. His body felt weak and old and he was tired deep in his bones. He had a new scar on his arm, curtesy of his last transformation that, by the looks of it, would stay with him for the rest of his life.

Remus was in the astronomy tower, the only place where he could get away form everyone and everything and just think. It was a place where he didn't have to pretend to be the rebel without a cause. Here he could just be Remus. He sat on a window ledge, his back leaning on one side, while his feet were propped against the opposite wall. The moonlight cast his silhouette on the cold stone floor. His calloused hand, which rested on his knees, held a newly lit cigarette. He laughed quietly as he thought, "even when I'm alone I have to keep up the charade of bad boy."

His thoughts slowly drifted back to their first year at Hogwarts. The four boys had met on the Hogwarts express. As if by fate, all four of them had ended up in the same compartment. Remus remembered timidly checking every single compartment, as if it were yesterday. He felt more isolated with every full or Slytherin contained room. Finally he reached the last door, near tears. He opened it, expecting it to be full like all the others. Instead it contained a single boy with wild brown hair. He quickly welcomed Remus in and the two soon began to talk about their favorite Quidditch teams. Moments after, Sirius showed up, dragging a heavy trunk that they would later find out was full of prank supplies. And last, came Peter, who fell through the door as the train hit a bump. They had immediately connected and had become close friends before the train had even made it to Hogwarts. The boys were ecstatic and slightly unbelieving when they were all sorted into Gryffindor.

It was later that night when the craziest plan Remus had ever heard was created. It was James' idea. They always were. They were going to form a secret group, the likes of which Hogwarts had never seen. They would go down in history as the greatest pranksters ever to live. Remus couldn't believe how naive they were. Peter was the one who brought up the point of expulsion. For a moment the thought stumped them, until James made the suggestion. What if they make Hogwarts believe they hated each other? No one would ever suspect four boys who couldn't stand the sight of each other. Sirius thought it was great. "It will be our greatest prank," he said his eyes twinkling.

So that night they picked their fate. James, thinking it would be hysterical, volunteered for the nerd. James had always been outgoing and popular. The innocent first year, that barely resembled the present James, thought it was a game. He had no idea that it would last as long as it did and have such an affect on their lives, James' especially. They voted Sirius to be the popular stud. Remus had no doubt that he could pull it off with his charming smile and boyish good looks. So Sirius became the preppy Quidditch player that he was destined to be. Peter would be the class clown instead of his quiet, meek self. At first he wasn't sure that he could do it, but Sirius convinced him that it would be nothing more than a prank. A huge prank. "You get to be someone your not," he explained, smile reaching almost to his ears, "How much fun is that." That left Remus the part of the bad boy.

Looking back on it the boys had no idea what they were getting themselves into. The plan had worked perfectly and what should have been a blessing was slowly turning into a curse.

The next morning the four boys staged a huge fight. The story of the fight was still told to scare first years. They spent the next four months convincing everyone how much they hated each other. Lily Evens had been the hardest to convince. She had sat with them at the feast and saw how well they got along. How well their personalities fit. Sometimes Remus thought that she still didn't believe that they all hated each other.

Remus took another drag form his cigarette. From his position in the window he could easily see the Whomping Willow. The tree swayed peacefully in the wind, peaceful and serene until the first chance it got to attack an innocent passerby. "Just like me," Remus thought darkly, his thoughts immediately turning from the past to the present.

James and Sirius were planning something. They had been for the last year. He knew that much. They had checked out strange books from the library and had repeatedly broken into the restricted section in the middle of the night. He also knew that the three of them were brewing a potion in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He knew that it had something to do with his werewolf form, but he couldn't fathom what it was. The boys had discovered his 'condition ' in the middle of first year.

When he moved into the dorm, Remus immediately knew that they were much too smart for the 'My grandma's sick and I have to go visit her' excuse. But he had prayed that his often absences would slip by unnoticed. However, they were too good of friends not to notice or not to care.

Remus' deepest fear was that they would find out about his other half and shun him forever because they were afraid of the monster in him or the monster that he was. They were the best friends he had ever had. The guys he had formed a secret society, The Marauders, with. Remus admitted to himself that he had underestimated them and their friendship. When they finally figured it out, they hadn't run away screaming in fear. Instead they accepted him, treating him no differently than they had before. Except now they had, in Remus' opinion, an un-accomplishable task. They had decided that they were going to keep him company in his wolf form. The thought that they would do that for him warmed his heart, but he never believed it possible.

Until now.

He was stupid to underestimate Sirius and James. If they wanted something they got it.

Whatever their plan was, it was obviously highly dangerous and probably slightly illegal. They were keeping the plan a secret. James and Sirius thought if Remus knew he would try and talk them out of it. They knew him too well. He was terrified that they would kill themselves while trying to help him. Or that he would kill them. And that was something that he could never live with. He was going to have to convince them that it was too dangerous. No matter what it took.

He hated to admit it to himself but a part of him wanted them to do it. To succeed. To keep him company. A big part. But he couldn't allow that to affect his decision. He wasn't going to allow them to kill themselves just for him. He wasn't worth that.

Then with a harsh laugh he realized what he was thinking. Who he was talking about. Him? Stop James and Sirius form doing something they had set their minds too? He might as well try and stop the world from turning.

He bought the cigarette to his lips and took a deep breath. He just hoped they weren't doing anything too illegal.

These and many more thoughts flashed through his head as he sat watching the night sky. They were having, or supposed to be having, a secret meeting in their dorm right now, but Remus needed to be alone. Needed to think.

Again he breathed in deep form the cigarette and slowly let it out. He felt his body begin to relax.

He couldn't believe that it had been five years. Five years. It seemed like only yesterday they were planning their first prank. Sirius and James laughing maniacally and Peter shaking slightly but joining in. "And me," he though, "just so happy to be included." He was still amazed that their plan had actually worked. James had called it the prank of the century and maybe that's what it was. After all, everyone in the school thought he was James Dean. And the funniest part of all was that they were getting away with it. Hell, James was looking good for head boy. He laughed at that. A Marauder, head boy.

James, the leader of their little group, was known throughout Hogwarts as a nerd. If only they knew. The girls would be falling into his lap, swooning at his confidence and handsome looks, while guys praising him for his Quidditch skills. And Remus, quiet, shy little Remus had to pretend he was a bad boy, a rebel. They would die if they knew he was a vegetarian that liked to read Shakespeare. But the act fit his lifestyle well. He didn't have to get close to anyone and wasn't in the public eye like Sirius. He could disappear anytime he wanted and people assume he just snuck out or skipped classes a few days. A new scar showed up on his arm. No big deal, he probably just got into a fight. He was looking tired? Well, he must have spent the night roaming the castle. After four years, he had grown used to playing the part. They all had.

He ran a hand though his dirty blond hair as he stared at the stars. Each one was reflected in the flat surface of the lake. As he watched the slight sway of the trees in the blue blackness of the night he felt a peace wash over him. And he couldn't help but hope that everything would turn out alright.

Just as he finished this thought the door to the tower opened. Remus jumped and almost fell out of the window, having to grab hold of both sides to steady himself. He silently cursed his stupidity for leaving the Invisibility Cloak, which he had used to get up there lying conspicuously in a pool on the floor. As a girl with gleaming red hair stepped into the room, Remus tensed.

Lily jumped as she saw the silhouette of someone sitting on the window, knees tucked close to his chin.

She cringed at the tone of his voice as he said, "Great, are you going to run off and tell the head boy that I'm up after hours and wondering the campus," as he said this he took a drag from his cigarette.

Lily knew that she was viewed as somewhat of a goody-goody and a teachers pet. "If only they knew," she thought to herself.

"No," Lily said and then after a pause, "Not if you let me bum one of those off of you," she said nodding her head toward towards the cigarette.

Lily almost laughed at the look of shock on his face. She always found it humorous when people were shocked because she did something out of 'character.'

Remus pulled out his box of cigarettes and motioned for her to take one. She did and used the fire on his to light her own. He watched as she took a deep drag. He still couldn't believe that she smoked and he expected her to begin coughing. Something that would prove she was only trying to be cool. Instead she gave a content sigh.

"I've been craving one of those," she said with a smile, pushing his legs down so they hung over the edge. It gave her enough room to squish in. She sat down next to him and examined the cigarette, "Sirius read in some muggle magazine that they're bad for you and now he's trying to make me quit."

With a laugh Remus said, "Yeah, me too," Sirius had searched through all his drawers and his trunk, throwing out all his packs. They had almost come to blows over it.

Lily looked at him in surprise, "Hun?"

Remus immediately realized his mistake. Your supposed to hate him remember, "My mother, she's a muggle and she heard somewhere that they cause cancer and now she's trying to make me quit," he never missed a beat, never batted an eye. "Yeah right, these things cause cancer?"

"I know, how absolutely ridiculous," Lily said with a small laugh and a friendly smile in Remus' direction. Lily inhaled, held her breath for a moment, and finally exhaled. The smoke coming out in rings. Remus laughed loudly at them.

"Speaking of the prick," Remus said slipping back into his bad ass attitude, "Don't you belong to Sirius? Isn't this like breaking some law or moral code or something?"

"First of all," Lily said her sparkling green eyes darkening dangerously, "I don't belong to anyone, least of all Sirius Black and no, I can talk to who ever the hell I want to talk to."

"You know," Remus said smiling at her, "You're nothing like I thought you were."

"People seldom are," was her only reply. With a small smile she turned to the sky and silently examined the stars as she listened to Remus' deep laugh.

Lily was beautiful. There was no other way to describe her. However, she didn't have the striking beauty that made you stop on the street. You couldn't get the full scope of her beauty without knowing her, sharing time with her. Because with every smile and every laugh her beauty grew until finally it was inescapable. Her red hair was soft and it shown even in the dim light of the astronomy tower. He green eyes were entrancing. That was the only way to describe them. They trapped you with one glance. She had a tiny body, with all the right curves in all the right places. This was something, however, that she would forcefully deny. She believed that she should loose a few pounds in the stomach area and gain a few in the chest.

Besides her physical features, there was her personality. Very few people who met her didn't get along with her, although few really knew her. Even fewer realized that she broke almost as many rules as Sirius and could, if called upon, drink him under the table. She had, somewhere in the past four years, become popular, something that she secretly despised. She hadn't wanted it, she wasn't one of those people who sought it out, stepping on anyone that got in their way. It was a burden she was forced to bare. She tried her best to be nice to everyone, although she often found herself snapping at people. A trait that she blamed on her read hair. Sirius, who knew her faults better than anyone, often teased her about her ability to change her mind about something more than anyone he had ever met. Lily never showed her emotions, she kept everything bottled up until one day she snaps and spends two hours sobbing and eating chocolate with Sirius.

She was smart, but was a horrible procrastinator. But this fault didn't affect her chances at prefect, she was a shoe in. She got in the top marks in all of her classes besides history of magic, which she used as a time to ketch up her reading, "When in the real world am I going to need history?" Her grades also lagged in potions even though Sirius, who excelled in it, was tutoring her. Because of her sweet personality and her good grades people often believed her to be a goody-two-shoes. Her reputation often had people believing they could walk all over her. Something that, they quickly learned, was far from the truth.

"So why are you here?" Remus finally broke the silence not taking his eyes away form the stars. Lily looked at him before she answered. The moon reflected in his deep eyes which reminded Lily of storm clouds. They reflected pain and loneliness just under the surface of his cool exterior. His lips were full and she understood why so many girls found him irresistible, though as she looked at his lips, so kissably smooth, she had no desire to do so. His jaw clinched tightly as he watched her examine his from the corner of his eye.

Finally she answered, "I got in a fight with Sirius," she explained, "He thinks that I'm lying to him about something stupid."

"He's an idiot."

"You're more like him than you realize," Lily said softly.

Remus remained silent. Realizing that she had touched a sore spot she quickly change the subject, "So why are you here?"

"Thinking," he said, refusing to elaborate any further.

After a long pause Remus continued, a wolf like grin on his face, "Can you imagine what everyone would say if they saw us right now?"

They shared a small smile. Remus had sparked Lily's curiosity. As they continued to talk she realized that he was nothing like the image he presented himself to be. He tried to be so tuff and cold hearted but it was easy to see that he was exactly the opposite. The two talked for about an hour, finally returning to the common room when Lily had started shaking from the cold. Letting down his act, he let her borrow his cloak. Remus folded the invisibility cloak under his arm and carried it back unused. He was thankful that Lily didn't ask what it was, although she glanced at it curiously a few times. As they went their separate ways, Lily couldn't help but think that she had made a new friend.


	3. Bull's Eye

Sirius was bored.

He had already counted all the stone bricks on the wall opposite of him and he had sang "99 bottles of butterbeer on the wall" twice. He had his back against the cold stone wall and was waiting not-so-patiently next to the door of their dormitory. Sirius was waiting for Remus, had been for the last few hours. Remus was late and he wasn't going to get away with it.

They were supposed to be having a meeting, but instead Remus was off doing God-knows-what with God-knows-who while Peter and James slept. James had fallen asleep while writing an essay for DADA, and Peter had passed out somewhere in-between. That left Sirius to his own devices, something that was never good. He ran a hand through his stylishly short hair. Although girls sighed at it, giggling at the softness, Sirius hated his hair. It was just another example of how he wasn't allowed to be himself, of how he was forced to pretend to be someone he wasn't. If given the choice, Sirius would have grown it out, letting it reach just past his ears, and it would always be in his eyes, payback for the five years the black strands had to be neat, without a hair out of place. In stead of doing what he wanted, he was forced to conform to the newest fashions and trends, a condition that did not only apply to hair but to everything else in his being. With a deep sigh he fantasized, not for the first time, of giving up their charade and being himself. He wondered if everyone would still worship the ground he walked on. He wondered if Lily would still be his best friend.

Lily was smart; there was no doubt about that. And sometimes, Sirius thought that she knew about them or, at least, that she suspected. Although she never voiced her questions, after every prank her eyes sparkled with unasked questions. "Where were you last night?" and "Why did you disappear for a few hours?" were always on the tip of her tongue. Of course she wasn't the only one who noticed his absence, but the others assumed he had disappeared to snog some nameless girl. After the prank that they pulled at the feast last year, he could remember her eyes flicking towards him, gauging his reaction. He hadn't shared this information with the other Marauders and he wouldn't until he was certain.

Sirius jumped into position when heard the familiar creak that accompanied stepping on the third step of their staircase. With a smile Sirius thought to himself, "Remus never remembers to skip that one."

With a murderous smile, Sirius prepared to strike as he watched the door handle slowly turn. He knew that Remus expected an attack and that he would have to be extra careful to get a bullseye. The door slowly opened admitting a shaft of light. As the opening grew bigger the werewolf stepped in and Sirius attacked. Remus' handsome face was hit unceremoniously by a pillow with a loud thwack. Sirius pulled it back and hit him again, this time sending a few feathers flying loose. Remus did not move an inch and stood silently still. As Sirius cautiously pulled back the pillow waiting for a reaction, Remus slowly turned his head towards him. The glare that marred Remus' usually pleasant face was met only with a half smile and a shrug from Sirius' shoulders.

"Where had you been?" Sirius questioned in a motherly fashion as the werewolf yanked the pillow form his friend's arms. He leaned forward and sniffed Remus, while his friend gave him a look that clearly questioned his sanity. "You reek of cigarettes. I thought you were going to quit?"

"In the Astronomy tower," Remus stated simply, answering the first question as he shoved the pillow into Sirius stomach. Sirius doubled over with an "Oaf." Remus ignored the second question completely as he walked towards the bed James occupied. The boy's face was lying on a book, his eyes closed. A tiny puddle of drool had collected on the page describing the best way to remove a Red Cap, and his glasses were lying crocked on his nose. Remus gently began to shake his shoulders, this caused James to roll over and mutter crankily, "Go away." After a little more soft nudging, Remus gave up and used a hash shove. This resulted in James falling off the bed, his glasses scattering under the four-poster.

"Bloody Hell," James exclaimed from his position on the floor.

Remus offered him an apologetic smile, Sirius laughed mockingly at him, and Peter, who was snoring softly in his bed moments ago, awoke with a start.

When James finally regained his barring, he unknowingly repeated Sirius' question, "Where have you been?"

"The Astronomy Tower," Remus said as he began to slip out of his school uniform and get ready for bed. James, who was now lying on his stomach, had one hand stretched under the bed. He was trying desperately to find his glasses in-between the countless mothballs.

"Jesus Christ," Remus muttered and grabbed his wand. With a roll of his eyes, he muttered, "Accico glass," and the round rimmed spectacles flew into his hand. James looked at him sheepishly as he stood up dusting off his knees. With a self-mocking grin he grabbed them from Remus' outstretched palm. He wiped them with the corner of his shirt before he put them on.

"The more important question," Sirius said with a leer, "is who you were there with?"

Remus, who had continued undressing after he had rescued James' glasses, was too consumed with untying his shoes to notice the connotations the question held. He answered simply, "Lily Evans." Though, as soon as the words slipped out of his mouth he realized his mistake. His eyes quickly shot to James face and he wasn't surprise to see a look a look of complete shock. James' mouth opened and closed repeatedly and Remus couldn't help but notice how much he resembled a fish out of water. In any other circumstance, the comparison would have mad him laugh, now it just made him feel worse.

"We weren't... I didn't..." he trailed off, "Nothing happened," he explained. It was a well known fact between the group that James was madly in love with Lily. He had been since the end of second year. Lily and James had been assigned as partners for an end of the year project and James had been infatuated ever since. In normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been a problem. James, with his 'Potter Charm', as his father so often called it with a wink and a nudge, and his ever charming smile would have, at least, had a chance with the lovely Miss Evans. But to the bumbling stuttering James, the beautiful red head was unattainable. Although, James admitted to himself, acting like a stuttering idiot wasn't that much of an act when the Lily was around.

"We just talked," Remus continued.

James had fallen so hard for Lily that Remus and Sirius had often talked about giving up the charade for him. In fact, they had come within inches of calling it off, when James overheard and stopped them. He had said, "If something's going to 'out' the Marauders, it had better be something better than a stupid crush." But over the years, Remus had begun to think it was more than a 'stupid crush.' He wasn't naive enough to believe that it was love, but whatever it was, it wasn't going away anytime soon.

"Since when do people meet in the Astronomy Tower to talk?" Peter asked.

"We didn't plan to meet there," Remus continued pleadingly, silently begging James to understand, "I went up there to think and while I was there she showed up. She had a fight with that big lump," he said nodding to Sirius, "and was trying to escape."

James looked at Sirius questioningly. "Yeah," he said, "I don't even remember what we were fighting about but with a temper like hers it could have been anything."

"Hey man," Remus said, again looking at James, "You know I would never do that to you."

"Yeah," James said his once solemn face, now being lit up by the grin that graced his face, "It's just..."

"The girl drives you wild," Sirius said with a smirk, sitting down on his bed. Sirius had, in the past year, periodically thought of Lily as more than a friend. "How could I not?" he thought to himself. She was beautiful, funny, and, more often than not, nice. But the thought of his best friend had always stopped him from acting on those feelings. He could never do that to James. Besides, afterwards he was always glad that he didn't get caught up in the moment, because, besides ruining his and James' friendship, he knew that it would permanently damage his and Lil's relationship.

"You can't help it if you're whipped," he said teasingly to James.

James proceeded to gracefully tackle Sirius to the floor. The two wrestled, each one gaining and loosing control, while Remus and Peter looked on amused. It was a sight the two had often witnessed in the five years they had known each other. Most of the time, Sirius won. It helped to be bigger and stronger and all. James, although outnumbered by size, still put up a good fight. This particular battle, however, was a close match. Finally the two came to an unspoken truce and separated, both breathing hard. James' hair was, if possible, more out of control than usual. Sirius eyes were wild and his cheeks were pink from the exertion. They both wore identical grins, wide, toothy and reckless.

"All right," James said, suddenly turning business like as he stood, helping Sirius up as well, "Let's get this started."

"Marauders Meeting called to order, Sir," Sirius said in mock seriousness, clicking his heels together and saluting James.

Remus turned to Sirius, he too turning serious. As he rubbed his eyes tiredly he said, "No he's right, we do need to do this. We might as well get it over with."

"Says the guy who disappeared for four hours," the black haired man joked.

Remus only response was to roll of his eyes.

James ran a hand through his hair and started, "I talked to a group of fifth year Ravenclaws and a bunch of Hufflepuff girls. Their theories ranged from 7th year Hufflepuffs to 4th year Slytherin, but nobody so much as mentioned any of us."

"I covered pretty much all of Gryffindor," Sirius said, "No one suspects a thing. Although Patricia Herning did complement whoever it was on a prank well done," he remarked with a bow.

"I talked to a bunch of guys in our year and older from Hufflepuff," Peter said, "and a few guys from Gryffindor. No one said anything except, a sixth year Hufflepuff who suggested James as a suspect," at this three boys drew uncharacteristically serious. He continued, "Don't worry, everyone burst out laughing. So were in the clear. Besides, I think the guy was joking anyway." The boys relaxed with this information. Although Sirius noticed that James seemed a little upset by the news. "Well, you would too," Sirius thought to himself, "If the whole school thought you were a pathetic loser."

Ever since a close call in second year, when a Slytherin prefect saw Peter outside the dormitory moments before a dozen dung bombs along with a message from the Marauders appeared in their common room, they have held meetings after each prank to see if anyone suspected them. So far no one had ever seriously brought their names up, although Remus and Sirius had been casually mentioned once or twice.

"I heard a group of Slytherins in the hall and they thinks it's the sixth year boys. I also heard a group of the professors talking and they were all arguing about the identity of the troublemakers. None of our names were mentioned. Dumbledore was there but he wasn't offering his opinion. Sometimes I think he knows," Remus said with a slight yawn at the end.

"I know what you mean," James admitted, "Last year when we made all the turkeys get up and dance at the last feast before winter break, I swear he was looking right at me and laughing."

"That's just a guilty conscious," Sirius said unbelieving, "Besides, there's no way that he could know and even if he did, we would have gotten in trouble a long time ago. He might like a good laugh as much as the next guy, but he can't let a group of students run around campus after hours unsupervised and unpunished."

"I don't know..." James said sharing a look with Remus.

"Either way," Peter said, "If he hasn't done anything yet, he's not going to, so we might as well go to sleep."

Remus agreed, it was a school night and he still hadn't caught up on his sleep from the full moon. But before they could retreat to their beds James brought up the last issue.

"Who' s going to do it tomorrow?" he questioned.

"Well, it might as well be me and Remus. We haven't had a bad row in a long time and people are starting to think I'm a softie," Sirius offered. After each prank, sometimes directly and other time a week or two after, the boys made sure that at lease two of them got into a fight. Sometimes it was a simple, "Don't touch my stuff," or a small argument about someone snoring. Other times it was all out wars fully equipped with screaming and occasional physical contact. When Sirius and Remus fought it was usually bad. The boys had ended up in the hospital wing a few times. The Marauders hoped these fights reminded people that they hated each other. They seemed to help keep the suspicion off them and it allowed them to keep up their image.

As Peter yawned loudly, James finally agreed that it was time to go to sleep. It was a Friday tomorrow and they were lucky enough to have History of Magic as their first period so they could catch up on their Z's. The four boys slowly went to their separate beds and pulled the curtains around them. The lights magically turned out and soon the only sound heard was the heavy breathing of Remus and the light snoring coming from Peter's bunk.


	4. Unanswered Questions

The muffled sound of voices began to drift into Lily's subconscious. Each word became more clear and precise as Lily slowly emerged from the deep sleep that had claimed her. Her eyes fluttered open and were quickly shut when they met with the harsh light of dawn. Squeezing one eye closed completely, she opened the other the tinniest sliver. Maria and Erica were standing at the foot of her bed. While Maria braided Erica's hair, Lily watched them with a soft smile.

Maria was beautiful. She had an exotic look to her that was passed down from her father who was Brazilian. She had dark, black, silky hair that was, although Erica had always begged her to grow it out, cut just above her shoulders. She was a huge flirt and girls from other houses had often accused her of being a slut. Although Maria was by no standards chaste, Lily had long ago decided that their harsh words were inspired by jealousy. Maria's chocolate eyes and high cheek bones created a look of loftiness and this caused many people to believe she was a bitch. However this misconception melted away within the first minute of speaking to her. She had a great sense of humor and her tongue was as sharp as a whip. She was smart but tended to slack off, getting low B's where she easily could have received an A. Maria also had a habit of being a drama queen, a trait that both Lily and Erica found hysterical.

Erica was physically the complete opposite of Maria. She had dirty blond hair that reached just below her shoulders, piercing blue eyes and a wide grin that set strangers at ease. Although her reputation as one of the sweetest girls at Hogwarts was usually true, if she didn't like you she was, as Sirius liked to call her, "a grade A bitch." She had a girl next door beauty that a lot of the guys at Hogwarts found irresistible. She got good grades because of hard work and hours spent in the library. She would jokingly curse Lily and Maria every time she had to study in the library while they got to goof off and have fun. Her laugh was loud and could be recognized across the great hall. She loved Quidditch and played as a Chaser on their house team. Erica had had a bad break up with a 4th year Ravenclaw two months ago and Lily and Maria had become deathly protective of her. This annoyed her to no end and she could often be heard saying exasperatedly, "I'm not made of glass, you know. I'm not going to break."

The three girls had met for the first time in the common room after the sorting and feast in their first year. They had immanently clicked and had formed a close friendship. Although they had a few squabbles here and there, the three had never had a major fight. They were friends with the other two girls in their dormitory, Ashley and Becca, but they couldn't compare to each other.

After Maria finished braiding the blonde's hair, she turned and noticed Lily watching them, "Hey sleepy head, I didn't know you were up."

"Ugh," was Lily's only answer as she through her covers back and stepped out of the bed, "What time is it?"

"6:43," Erica said glancing at her watch, "So you have about twenty minutes until breakfast."

"I can subtract," Lily snapped as she looked in the mirror examining her bed-head. Erica didn't even flinch at Lily's harsh words. It was a well know fact that Lily wasn't a morning person, in another hour she would apologize.

Maria rolled her eyes as Lily drug herself to the bathroom. The familiar sound of running water filled the room as the red head took her shower. It was a Friday morning, meaning they had History of Magic first. Lily would have skipped it all together but she was starving. She had missed dinner last night to go up to the Astronomy Tower.

She emerged from the shower, a billow of steam following her. Wrapping herself in a big cotton towel, she looked at herself in the mirror. The bags under her eyes from last nights meeting had disappeared and her hair lay flat and smooth, her strawberry shampoo magically untangling every rat's nest that had been there moments before. She did a drying charm and slowly put on her school robes.

Erica and Maria were waiting impatiently on her bed. Maria's foot was rhythmically tapping the floor as the two girls played "Rock, Parchment, Wand."

"Finally," Maria said with a sigh standing up and brushing imaginary dust of her robes.

"To breakfast then," Erica said also standing up, glancing at her watch, "with ten minutes to spare."

"Okay," Lily said grabbing a pile of cloth at the end of her bed, "I'm ready." The two girls looked at the bundle questioningly but didn't ask. They knew that Lily would tell them when she was ready.

The three of them walked down the staircase to find the common room full of people. Lily, who had Remus' cloak bundled up in her arms, spotted him walking across the room.

Remus was heading towards the portrait hole, not paying attention to anyone. People, Lily was amazed to see, moved out of his way. They did the same for Sirius, she though in her head, but that was out of awe, this was fear. She wondered what they would think if they knew the real Remus, the one she met in the tower.

He had no idea what he was going to do.

They had gone to sleep last night, too tired to make a plan. He just hoped Sirius knew what he was doing. He walked through the common room and people scurried out of his way. 'Pathetic' he thought with a smirk. He hadn't even talked to half these people and they feared him because he sat alone and some second year told them that he had a tattoo of a scorpion on his back.

Remus' stopped walking. His path was blocked. A pair of feet were propped up on a table and were refusing to move. At first he was shocked, until her realize that the feet belonged to none other that a smirking Sirius Black. He had his hands behind his head and was leaning back in his chair. The perfect picture of an arrogant prat. He could barely hold back a smile at the sight.

"Can I help you?" Sirius questioned, crossing one leg over the other.

"Yeah," Remus said crossing his arms. He hoped no one noticed the laughter in his eyes, "You can move your designer shoes out of my way."

"Ummm," Sirius said pretending to think, he removed on of his hands from behind his head to rub his chin thoughtfully, "No." His thoughtful act was gone, his eyes turned cold and all the humor was gone from them and he spoke harsh and cold. If Remus hadn't known better, he would have thought he actually hated him. By this time the entire common room was watching, eyes fixed on them.

"Oh, I'm sorry your highness," Remus said mockingly, bowing down, "King of Quidditch, what I meant to say was move you feet now or I'll--"

"Or you'll what?" Sirius said cutting him off as he stood up, as if answering the challenge. They were so close that Remus could feel Sirius breath on his face. They were nose to nose, eyes staring unblinkingly into each other.

The two stayed in this position, statue like. Unmoving. The common room held their breath, waiting and watching. The minutes past in silence as the two boys continued to stare at each other.

Remus finally broke the staring contest with a harsh shove that sent Sirius back into the couch. "Thanks for moving," Remus said with a fake smile and a harsh laugh as he walked past him. Sirius who was red with fury stood up and was ready to tackle him to the floor when Lily touched his shoulder. He turned to look at her and saw the pleading in her eyes. He took a second to decide if that was a big enough fight before he nodded his head.

Remus, who was now standing next to the open portrait hole and obviously thought the fight wasn't big enough said, "Oh, I didn't know you where whipped."

Sirius, forgetting about his silent promise to Lily, charged. He tackled Remus and the two fell to the ground outside the common room. Everyone in the common room quickly surrounded the hole, standing on the tip of their toes to see the fight.

With a sigh Lily slumped down on the couch. 'It looks like I'm not getting any breakfast either,' Lily thought to herself, 'god damn that Sirius Black.'


	5. Make Believe

The fight had ended with McGonagall showing up and levitating both boys to the hospital wing. The both had received a month full of detentions and she had deducted a 100 points from the Gryffindor house. Lily, who still had Remus' cloak stuck in her bag, was now walking to History of Magic with Erica and Maria.

"Do you ever notice..." Lily started, "Nah, never mind."

"No," Maria said poking her in the stomach, "tell us."

"It's just that," Lily started, pausing to figure out how best to say it, "After every Marauder's prank... two of those boys have a fight." She didn't' need to explain who 'those' boys were.

"Lily, they have a fight about once a week, of course some of them are going to happen around a Marauders prank," soothed Erica.

"Yeah, I guess," a pause, "It's just that last night I saw Remus and he had that invisibility cloak Sirius always uses ... and I don't care what you guys may think about him, he didn't steal it." Lily explained, "And last night when I talked to Remus he said something that made me think that maybe he doesn't hate Sirius as much as everyone believes."

At Erica and Maria's inquiring looks she continued, "I was talking about how Sirius is trying to make me quit smoking and he smiled and said, 'yeah me too.' And when I asked him about it he said he meant that his mom was trying to make him quit."

"Well, maybe his mom really is trying to make him quit and maybe they both have an invisibility cloak or maybe he did steal it?" Erica offered.

"He didn't steal it," Lily argued, her voice left no room for argument.

"What? You spend one night with the guy and you suddenly know everything about him?" questioned Erica loudly, throwing up her hands.

Lily's only reply was a glare.

"Okay, so assuming that he didn't steal it. Maybe they both have one."

"Do you know how rare those are?" Maria questioned, "My mom's been trying to buy one for the last three years. Not only are they practically extinct, they also cost a fortune."

"Okay. So there are a couple little quirks. That doesn't change the fact that these boys have hated each other for four years."

"Yeah," Lily said as she walked into the History of Magic class room. Maria and Erica took the two seats in front of her while she sat next to an empty seat that would normally be taken by Sirius.

"I guess," Maria also agreed, although neither looked like they totally bought it.

Lily began to idly chew on her quill as her mind drifted through the events of the last few days, desperately trying to put the pieces together. She was quickly lost in thought and didn't even look up when a boy sat down in Sirius's usual seat.

Professor Binns floated through the wall and immediately began his lecture on "Witch Burnings in the Western World." Lily didn't even look up as his monotone voice rang out through the classroom. She was too busy studying her memories. ... ...

It had all started out as a game. A stupid game. A simple child's game: a strange mix between Make-believe and Dress-Up. Some huge prank he had come up with, something that would put them in the history books. It was going to be fun, an escape from the mundane existence James had been fearing. James wanted adventure, excitement and the others craved it as much as he did. They thought they would use it as a way to escape their dull and gray world.

James was well aware of the irony. The act he had used to set himself free had slowly become his prison.

It wasn't a game. He knew that now. But then again, hindsight is always 20/20. James had selfishly created a way to hide and had ended up trapping him and his friends in an inescapable lie. He could see the effects it had in their eyes. At first everyone's eyes glinted with mischief and adventure. They were getting away with something they hadn't even dared to dream of. The mischievous sparkle, however, slowly faded to boredom, to indifference, to anger, and, finally, to that of a caged animal. It was their own personal prison. That was the only way to describe it. A fact that was made all the worse by the knowledge that they had created it. It was their own doing. And now they were in too deep to ever fully escape the lies they had created.

When they gave up their facade, and they would, there was no question of that in James' mind, it was like a time-bomb, slowly ticking down to zero, Hogwarts wouldn't accept their previous lie as an act. Not completely anyway. They wouldn't be able to grasp the magnitude of what the Marauders had done. Hogwarts would forever have lingering thoughts of James the nerd, Remus the loner, Sirius the Quidditch star, and Peter the nice guy whispering around in the back of their minds. With a soft smile, James realized just how much he hated stereotypes.

And, if by some miracle the school would fully accept them as who they really were, forgetting completely about the characters they had been playing?

Well, they still couldn't escape.

The acts they had been performing had slowly become a part of who they were. They had shaped their personalities in the slightest ways, undetectable to anyone else, but crystal clear among the group. Remus' temper, which had always been the mildest of the four, had noticeable shortened. Peter had a tendency to poke fun at not only himself, but at others. And James had become harder, untrusting, and suspicious, always cautious for the bully that would sneak up behind him. Sirius, who had always been the compulsive, passionate one, was slowly loosing passion to reason. Although most would find this a positive improvement, James thought it was the most tragic of all.

And even though most of him had grown to hate the lie he had created, a part of him still loved it. Or at least, what it allowed him to do. He loved the pranks they pulled. It was one of the only times he felt free, one of the only times he was himself. He was addicted to the adrenaline rush, the danger, and the fear that each prank involved. And even though he hated the act they put on, he would do it again in a second. James would never give up the pranks or secret meetings the Marauders had participated in thanks to their discuses. They were memories that James would never forget and would cherish for the rest of his life.

As the ringleader of the Marauders walked down the halls of Hogwarts, headed for his History of Magic class, he couldn't help but wonder how long they would last, how many days were left until the bomb exploded and the secret they had been hiding for five years was set free. He silently prayed that it wouldn't be much longer, as he ran a hand through his messy locks.

His depressing thoughts were snatched away by a glimpse of red hair. With a self mocking smirk, James silently acknowledged how pathetic it was that just the sight of her hair could brighten his whole day. He didn't even realize as his steps became quicker that he was trying to catch up with the beautiful red head.

As he broke through a clump of Hufflepuffs, expertly dogging in-between two girls with blonde hair, one of which exclaimed an "Oomph" as he passed by, he noticed that Lily was surrounded by her usual entourage. He felt his stomach drop in disappointment and his smile slightly wavered. There was no point in approaching her now, he decided, his shoulders dropping in defeat. He would have to talk to her later in the library.

A small part of him was annoyed that she had this type of effect on him, that she could alter his mood without even a word. However, the larger part of him relished in the tingling feeling that spread over his skin and the fluttering in his stomach he felt anytime she was around. He watched as she ran her delicate hand through her hair, a small smile settling on his face in recognition of her familiar action.

She and her friends were talking conspiringly and James couldn't help but wonder what about.

His thoughts were answered when Erica said loudly, "What? You spend one night with the guy and you suddenly know everything about him?" She punctuated her exasperation by throwing her arms wildly up into the air.

The loud outburst caused the entire hall to turn their direction, but Lily was to busy glaring to notice. James, however, was very aware that Mandi Peterson, a 5th year Hufflepuff and the school's best source of gossip, turned to her too-skinny friend and started to discuss what had just happened.

James knew it was a harmless statement, knew that Erica was talking about Remus and their innocent meeting in the Astronomy Tower, knew that nothing had happened. But Mandi didn't. And James' was sure she was completely content in believing the worst. He was just glad that she didn't know who Lily was with last night. And he prayed that she didn't find out. The news of Lily and Remus would spread around the school in an hour flat.

James watched as Lily, Erica, and Maria entered the classroom, oblivious to the attention they had just earned themselves. His eyes followed Lily as she sat down and he noted the empty seat next to her. Sirius wouldn't be making it to class today.

After an internal battle, he decided that he would take his empty seat. It wouldn't do any harm and it would let him spend time with the girl that constantly plagued his thoughts. The class would think nothing of it. It was a good seat in the front of the class and it was a well known fact that Lily and James studied together.

Over that last year the pair had become very close, a fact James was very happy about. Although he still put on his act in front of Lily, he was slowly allowing it to slip away. And although it should have scared him, it gave him a reassuring feeling instead. Lily seemed to except him more and more, the more he put his guard down, and knowing that she approved of who he really was meant more to him than it should have.

He and Lily had an unspoken agreement to meet in the library everyday after class to study together. They always sat at the same table and usually ended up doing more talking than actual studying. They had discovered that they had a surprising amount of things in common. One of the most shocking to Lily was James' love for muggle classics. They both liked the same wizard bands and Lily had exposed James to some muggle songs, which he could often be heard humming while studding in the common room.

Just as James began to walk towards the seat, it was stolen by a brunette Ravenclaw. A very male, brunette Ravenclaw, who happened to be on their house Quidditch team. Professor Binns started his lecture, but James didn't even register the ghost's voice. He watched, a tingle of jealousy sweeping over him, as the brunette introduced himself to Lily. Lily, who appeared deep in thought, was surprised by this sudden action. James' eyes never looked away from her as he took his usual seat. He watched as the Ravenclaw gave a flirtatious smile and James tried to decide if Lily was flirting back. James also noticed the looks Erica and Maria kept giving the guy. Very approving and they kept turning around and shooting Lily very meaningful glances.

Lily and the nameless guy talked quietly through the class and James became more and more sick as time went on. He, like most of the students, was extremely happy when the bell rang signaling the end of class. The Ravenclaw, however, was not.

As James walked past the two, he heard the nameless Ravenclaw ask Lily if he could walk her to class. A great relief lifted off James' shoulders when she declined, explaining that she had Charms next and that it would be too far out of his way. Lily waved good-bye to the brunette and hurried to catch up to her friends who, James knew, where waiting just around the corner. He didn't have to hear the squeals to know that Erica and Maria were drilling Lily about the 'hottie.'

With a sigh, James thought to himself, "This is going to be a long day."

... ...

"Hey," Lily said as she placed her books down at their usual library table.

James looked up from the book he was immersed in, pushing his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. They had once again fallen all the way to the slightly curved tip, barely hanging on, a sight Lily had always found adorable. "Hi," he said with a goofy smile. James hair was more messy than usual, strands pointing in all directions and one hanging directly in front of his eyes.

"Good book?" she questioned as she pulled out her chair and collapsed into it.

"Very," James answered, "You've probably already read it. It's a muggle book, Jane Eyre."

Lily was shocked, "You like Jane Eyre?"

"You didn't?"

"No, I loved it. I cried at the end. It just doesn't seem your type," she explained as she took out her parchment and quill, "Your know, your usually a Tolkien or a Dumas."

With a shrug, James changed the subject, "So how was your day?" he asked, closing his book and moving on to his potions essay.

"Boring as usual," Lily stated, this was her normal response, like someone else's 'fine.' "Well, that's not entirely true, I wouldn't call it boring. Seeing as Sirius and Remus and are both in the hospital wing and Jacob Worthington blew up his cactus in Transfiguration," the last was remembered with a smile from both Lily and James.

"Yeah," James continued casually as he copied the ingredients to their latest potion down, "And I noticed you made a friend," his tone was normal, if not a little teasing. No clue into how he was really feeling. 'James you are quite the actor,' he thought to himself arrogantly.

Lily looked up from her paper indigently, "If your referring to that Ravenclaw-"

She was interrupted by James who looked up from the paper with a smirk, "That's exactly whom I'm referring to, my lady," this time his tone was nothing but mocking.

She glared at him in a playful manor, but said nothing more on the subject.

"So," James prodded, he took on a high pitched voice that sounded remarkable like Mandi Peterson's, "Don't leave me waiting, I want details."

She laughed loudly at this and Madame Pince sent an all too familiar glare in their direction.

"His name is Mitch Harding," Lily said in a conspiratorial tone.

"And..." James prodded refusing to acknowledge what that tone probably meant.

"And he's very attractive..."

"Why do I feel a but coming on?" James asked ignoring the pang of jealousy he felt at her calling Mitch attractive.

"Because there is a but."

"But what?"

"But," Lily said with a sigh, "he has the IQ of an asparagus."

"An asparagus," James said smiling, "Wow, that's bad. You couldn't even give the guy a tomato?"

"No," she said shaking her head sadly, "he was that bad. And the worst part is that Maria and Erica think he's perfect for me and I tried to explain to them that I want a guy who cannot only spell his own name but recite the alphabet without having to pause every five seconds to think, but they didn't understand."

"You don't have high qualifications do you?" James teased.

"What can I say? I'm a simple girl."

The two were silent for a few moments, both working on their homework when James began to laugh. It started out as a small snicker which grew to deep, loud laughter.

Madame Pince once again shot them a look, this one was accompanied by a harsh, "Shhhh!"

"I'm sorry, I still can't get over the fact that you called the guy an asparagus," he said containing his laughter, not even realizing that the two of them were lightly flirting.

Lily poked him playfully in the arm, "I did NOT call him an asparagus, I just commented on the fact that he didn't talk about anything other that Quidditch for the whole period. And he didn't even do _that_ intelligently. I mean Sirius can go on and on and on about Quidditch forever, but he never repeats himself four times. Four times! He kept talking about Sami "the Snitch" Rosenbum and the catch he made at the game against Egypt. I mean, come on. One in depth description is enough, I don't need four. And when I say in depth I mean IN DEPTH. Apparently this guy had those magical magnifying binoculars, because he even described how his hair was flying in the wind and the desperate gleam he had in his eye as his pale white fingers, tense with desire, reached out for the snitch. Four times I heard that. FOUR TIMES. And, you know, Sirius recognizes when I've completely zoned out. But then again, Sirius has an IQ higher than that of your everyday garden vegetable. I mean, for Gods sakes, I wasn't even responding anymore, except for a vague 'un huh' every fifteen minutes or so. And he didn't even notice. And that's the kind of guy Maria and Erica want me with? I mean yeah, he's gorgeous, but can you imagine me with him. Starring dumbly at the wall, while he just jabbers on, not even noticing that I killed myself an hour ago from boredom and..."

Lily stopped her babbling when she saw the soft smirk that was on James face. A slight blush colored her cheeks, a trait she hated. "You're supposed to stop me when I do that."

"I like it when you do that," he said his soft smirk turning into a sweet smile as he tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear. His hand lingered by her cheek a second longer than was necessary.

James was shocked by his boldness. He didn't know what he was thinking; meek-book-worm James would never have done that. But the way Lily was looking at him right now, a mixture of awe and shock, was worth it. It took all the control he had to turn away from the beautiful red head that was staring at him, green eyes sparkling. He quickly picked up his quill, making sure his hands were occupied, afraid he might try and do something stupid like that again. He forced his voice to be calm and normal when he asked, "What does Unicorn blood do in a purifying potion?" He knew exactly what it was for, but he was petrified that if he didn't do something, Lily would ask him why he had just done that.

His eyes didn't leave the parchment, too scared to look into those beautiful green eyes. To afraid that he would loose complete control. That's why he didn't see her blink twice and slightly shake her head as if clearing out her thoughts before answering. When she finally she replied, her voice wasn't nearly as calm as James'. He, however, didn't notice because he was fighting an inner war inside himself. He still couldn't believe he had just done that. He could have ruined everything in one moment. And in the back of his mind he wondered if that would have been such a bad thing. When he realized that he could still feel her impossibly soft skin on the tips of his fingers, he decided that it was worth it. She was always worth it.

As Lily explained the importance of Unicorn blood, automatically stating the information they had learned six weeks ago, not even realizing that it was something James should've know by heart for months now, she couldn't help but think that, for the first time, she had really seen James. Really seen him. Not just the person he pretended to be, the character he played. But the real man. He had dropped down his walls that protected him from the bullies and 'popular kids' at school and for a moment, he had been James. And she was shocked to realize how badly she wanted to see James again.


	6. Black is Blue

...

The chapter is dedicated with a HUGE thanks to American Mione who came up with the hysterical idea of calling Mitch "Asparagus Boy." Thank you so much.

Deep laughter rang throughout the hospital wing, bouncing off its too white walls.

Poppy sighed, shacking her head as she continued her inventory of the potions in her office. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, mumbling, "These boys will be the end of me."

Poppy had been working at Hogwarts for the last six years. The first four had been as an intern under Madame Noyes, a strict, harsh woman of 60, who wouldn't stand for any nonsense. When Dumbledore offered her the nursing position after Madame Noyes retired, she had eagerly accepted. At moments like this, she wondered why.

A loud crash echoed from the area of the hospital beds and she heard the familiar sound of Sirius saying, "Oops." She closed her eyes and counted to ten.

Poppy stopped at the mirror in her office and ran a hand through her short black hair. Although she was only 30 years old, she was surprised to see that her dark hair wasn't peppered with gray, thanks to James and Sirius.

She had long ago given up trying to control the four boys that now occupied the hospital wing, quickly learning in their first year that they were, at best, uncontrollable. In the beginning, she tired to treat these four as regular patients, allowing no visitors and demanding they rest. She, however, quickly learned that it was pointless and did much more damage than good. The boys would always return to their injured friend, always hidden under an invisibility cloak and usually with food from the kitchens or new idea for a prank. She had come to realize that it was for the best if she just let them stay, even if it meant they were skipping Transfiguration and keeping up her patient.

She knew these boys like the back of her own hand; she had mended their bones, bandaged their scrapes, stitched their cuts, and treated their illnesses. Hell, she'd even removed a chicken's beak from the back of Sirius' head. She'd seen their faults and she new their strengths. They were incredibly loyal to each other and anyone they cared about and they wore their hearts on their sleeves.

That's why she couldn't, for the life of her, understand how they had made the entire school think they hated each other. These four boys were attached at the hip, completely inseparable. If one was admitted, the other three were sure to follow. And as if that weren't enough evidence to prove that they were the infamous Marauders, then the hundreds of times they had come to her to fix a spell gone wrong would be. The boys were creative to say the least. Peter had once come in sneezing goldfish. Goldfish, for God's sake!

She loved these boys to death, but it was her duty to inform Professor Dumbledore of their after hours activities. She'd felt horrible when she had first come to her decision, but realized it was the right thing to do. These boys were not only breaking school rules, but they were putting themselves, and occasionally others, in danger. When she had hinted to Dumbledore that she believe James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus to be the pranksters that made up the Marauders, he had only given her a small, secret smile. "Boys will be Boys, Poppy," he said, his eyes twinkling merrily, "Let them have their fun, for laughter may be very rare in the future," and with that he had ended the conversation. That was the last time she had brought it up. If it was all right with Dumbledore, then it was more than all right with her. And she agreed with him, dark things were rising, and the school could use all the laughter it could get.

The sound of a short shout and a loud bang came through the closed door of her office. She cringed at the thought of what they had broken, and made a silent prayer that it wasn't a body part. She glanced out of the window of her office to find James sprawled out on the floor while Sirius laughed from his bed. Remus and Peter had paused in their game of Wizarding Chess to watch James try to pick himself off the floor. She rolled her eyes and went back to work with the though, 'Yep, these boys will be the end of me,' running through her mind.

The door to the hospital wing creaked slowly open as James and Peter's invisible heads peaked in, eyes quickly searching for Madame Pomfrey or other unwanted occupants of the hospital wing. Deciding the cost was clear, they quickly made their way to their friends' beds, throwing off the invisibility cloak. Remus and Sirius had stopped their conversation as soon as the door opened, sitting up and facing away form each other, giving the impression that they couldn't stand the sight of each other, just in case it wasn't Peter or James who entered.

Sirius had given Remus, not only a busted and swollen lip, but a cut left eyebrow. The werewolf's damaged eyebrow had been magically healed, but Poppy had refrained from fixing his bloody lip, making him hold a pack of ice to it. Remus had a sneaking suspicion that this wasn't because she couldn't fix it, but because she was trying to teach him a lesson for fighting.

Remus was proud to say that Sirius was in a much worse condition than himself. He had not one, but two black eyes and a bloody nose. The black eyes were easily fixed with a charm, but a nasty smelling green potion was needed to stop the blood flowing from Sirius nose.

James took a seat on the edge of Sirius' bed, while Peter did the same on Remus'.

With a smirk, James said, "We come baring gifts," and proceed to empty his pockets of the food he had stolen form the kitchen and Peter pulled a Wizarding Chess set out from under his cloak.

"Oh, thank God," Sirius said with genuine relief, immediately grabbing a sandwich that the house elves had made and taking a huge bite out of it, "I thought I was going to have to actually eat this horrible hospital food."

James picked up two sandwiches and tossed one each to Remus and Peter. Peter, who quickly opened his, began inhaling his sandwich.

With a roll of his eyes, Remus began to set up the chess set, as James said with mock anger, "I can't believe you would think I would leave you to the horror that is hospital food. I thought you knew me better than that," he finished, a shocked hand flying to his chest and a deep sigh escaping his lips.

Sirius picked up his pillow and through it at the teenager at the foot of his bed. James expertly ducked the flying object and watched in horror as it flew across the room and hit a vase of flowers, knocking it to the ground.

"Oops," Sirius said, cringing.

The four boys froze, not even breathing, hoping Madame Pomfrey wouldn't hear them. Praying she didn't hear the crash. They waited, listening for the tiniest hint that she heard and was coming to reprimand them. After a few moments, James began to laugh and the other three quickly joined in. The laughter quickly became hysterical.

James wiped tears from his eyes, as the laughter finally died down. His dark brown hair was as wild as ever, and he smiled as he brushed as strand out of his eyes. Peter was clutching his stomach, a giggle still escaping his lips every few seconds. A small grin was still present of Remus face and Sirius eyes' danced in happiness.

James took a bite out of a chocolate chip cookie he had stolen from the kitchens and turned to Remus and Sirius, "So, how are you guys feeling?" he questioned.

"I'm doing all right," Remus said pulling away the ice pack to show James and Peter his busted lip. Although the werewolf still looked tired, his skin was quickly regaining its color and his eyes were, once again, filled with laughter. His swollen lip seemed to only enhance his rugged handsomeness.

"Ouch," Peter said sympathetically as he moved one of his pawns across the chess board.

"I'm fine now, but I had to drink a truly vile potion," Sirius said, wrinkling his nose at the memory of it, "From now on, there is no punching Sirius in the nose."

"But it's so funny," Remus said, an evil twinkle entering his eyes, "It makes you scream like a girl."

Sirius, who had just taken a bite of a biscuit, spit a mouth full of crumbs all over his bed in indignation, "What?"

"You screamed," pause, "like a girl," Remus stated again, his voice flat and simple, as if he were stating the date of the last battle of the Goblin Revolution.

"I did not, and have not ever in my entire life, screamed like a girl," Sirius said calmly and slowly, his anger hidden barely under his controlled voice. His ocean blue eyes held a glint of danger that Remus was all too familiar with. The werewolf watched as Sirius' jaw clenched in anger, a clear sign that he was about to lose his temper.

"No, I'm going to have to agree with Remus on this one," James said with a smirk, "your scream was definitely on the girlie side."

"I may have, at one point or another, grunted in pain, but I never screamed and I definitely didn't scream like a girl."

"Nope," Peter joined in, "you screamed like a little girlie-girl."

"Wha- No I did not- I..." Sirius sputtered as he sat up, his voice no longer calm and controlled.

"No, you did," James said laughing deeply along with Peter and Remus, "Remus punched you in your nose and you screamed. It sounded something like this," the brunette grabbed his face with both hand and in a voice so high pitched Remus thought it was going to shatter the glass screamed, "ahhhhhhhh."

Sirius, not even waiting for him to finish shoved him completely off the bed. James shrill scream changed into a gruff short shout as he flew of the edge of the bed. He landed with a hard bang on the wooden floor of the hospital wing, skidding a few feet, his robes tangling around his legs. James sat up and rubbed his back while Sirius joined Remus and Peter in their laughter.

After a moment, James joined in too, as he pulled himself off of the floor. The fall to the floor had destroyed any sort of order there was to James hair, which now shot out in ever direction. His goofy grin was once again present on his face. Peter huge smile brought out the dimples in his chubby cheeks and his giggling, complete with snorts, made the other three boys laugh all the harder.

As James sat himself back down of the foot of the bed, the laughter slowly calmed down until it disappeared.

Sirius asked in triumph, "So, you admit that I never once screamed like a girl?"

"Oh, no," James said with a smirk, "There was definite screamage, 'Ahhh," James said again imitating Sirius in a high pitched voice, "Please Mr. Remus, don't hurt me. I'm just a meek and feeble girl."

"I'll show you meek and feeble," Sirius said as he lunged towards James, arms outstretched for his best friend's throat.

"Mr. Black," came a strong voice from the back room, "Put your butt back in that bed this instant."

Sirius grumpily sat back down, muttering beneath his breath, "I swear to God, that woman has eyes in the back of her head."

With an apologetic smile towards Sirius, Remus turned serious, "All right, down to business. We need ideas for our next prank."

"Oh, I have a definite target in mind," James said, an evil smirk appearing on his face.

"Really, let me guess," Sirius said happily, "Is it a Slytherin?"

"Nope."

"Really?" Sirius said, loosing some of his excitement, but gaining curiosity, "Then who is it?"

"His name is Mitch Harding," James explained.

"Harding..." Sirius repeated, the name striking a cord, "He plays Quidditch for Ravenclaw, right?"

"Yeah," Remus agreed.

"I remember him; guy's a real prat, right? Knocked our seeker right off his broom last year?" Sirius said.

"Oh, yeah," Peter said, "I forgot about that."

"So why do we want to prank him?" Remus asked, suspicious of James' intentions.

"Well, I don't really want to," James admitted with a sigh, "But it gave me a nice warm and fuzzy feeling thinking about it." James ran a hand through his messy black hair, a grin stretching across his face as he imagined all the possible pranks that they could pull on 'Asparagus Boy' as he so kindly referred to him now.

"Why?" Sirius asked, his voice obviously questioning James' sanity.

James quickly told the Marauders about Mitch and Lily, his grin only reappearing when he told them what Lily had called him.

"That's my girl," Sirius said with a grin.

"Too bad we can't prank him," Remus said with a frown.

"We'll just have to settle for kicking his ass when we play him in Quidditch," Sirius' comment earning an enthusiastic 'yeah' from both Peter and Remus.

"Remind me again why we can't prank him?" Peter asked confused.

"Because he really hasn't done anything wrong," Remus said.

"But more importantly, if Lily ever found out, she'd kill us," Sirius added. Remus laughed as he watched Sirius grimace, imagining what Lily would do to him.

"Well, we still need our next victim," Peter pointed out.

Remus cringed as he watched an evil grin spread across James handsome face. The werewolf recognized the gleam in his eyes. It was the same gleam that was present whenever James had a genius, or moronic, depending upon how you looked at it, idea.

"What?" Sirius questioned, his voice filled with excitement and curiosity as he recognized the look on James face.

"I have the perfect candidate," James said simply.

"Who?" all three boys asked at once.

"Me."

Before the boys could respond to the shocking answer, the warning spell James had cast on the hospital door went off. A bright blinking blue light appeared over the door. Someone was approaching the hospital wing. The light lasted for five seconds and then disappeared, leaving no trace that it had ever existed. Peter and James quickly dove underneath the invisibility cloak as Sirius and Remus shoved food and a chess set under their blankets. They then turned away from each other, again pretending that they couldn't stand the sight of one another. After four years of experience, the four boys had this routine down to a number of seconds.

Justin Lindley, a Hufflepuff first year, came limping slowly through the door. Madame Pomfrey rushed out to help him to the bed and James and Peter slipped out of the still open hospital door, unnoticed.

TBC

...


	7. Hell All Around

A/N: Hey guys. I'm back! I can not tell you how sorry I am for the wait. If anyone is still checking on this story, you are dedicated and I absolutely love you. Thank you so much to all the people who kept after me to update. It really did help. I'm home for summer so hopefully I'll be able to write a little more. I really am sorry for the wait.

I hope you guys like this and it's not a total let down. There will probably be a LOT of errors. I pretty much typed it out, reread it once, and posted it. I'll probably fix things later on. I was just so excited to finally have written this chapter. I really hope you guys don't hate it. Also, if there's any inconsistencies please tell me. I didn't have time to go over all my other chapters.

Please tell me if it was good or bad. Thank you so much again to everyone who hasn't given up on this story. I love all you guys.

I hope you like it.

………………………………………

James sat in the corner of the common room, his potion notes spread out in front of him. The potions professor had assigned them an extremely long and in depth essay. One that James had yet to start. He really should focus, he thought to himself as he ran a hand through his wild black hair. The essay was essential for his grade. He needed to at least start it. But for some reason, he couldn't draw his eyes away from that couch. Or to be specific, that girl.

James didn't have any time to waist. But he just couldn't seem to pry his eyes away from that side of the common room. James needed to focus. Earlier that morning, the boys had decided that James would be the perfect mark for their next prank. The idea was genius. No one would ever suspect. However, the four boys, usually brilliant when it came to mischief and mayhem, couldn't think of the right prank. James wanted it to be unforgettable and original. And, to tell the truth, tonight they were lacking in both areas. Remus' ideas were too calm and controlled. Sirius' were too dangerous and thrilling. James' plans were cliché and Peter couldn't think of a single prank.

The boys had finally spilt up at dinner, leaving Remus and Sirius in the hospital wing. James had planed on finishing his potions essay and then brain storming for the perfect prank.

He hadn't counted on distraction in the form of a long legged redhead.

Lily was sprawled across a couch in the Gryffindor common room. One of her pale arms was tucked under the flame of her hair, while the other held the book she was reading. Her long legs spilled over the side of the couch. Her crisp white school uniform shirt was untucked and had risen just enough to show an inch of her pale white stomach. She shifted to get more comfortable and James watched as the firelight reflected in her deep red hair.

James pictured her smile and he felt butterflies flutter through his stomach. This was bad. This was really, really bad. Since their meeting in the library, James had not been able to get Lily out of his mind. Even when the Marauders had been plotting in the hospital wing, half of James had been reliving and analyzing every second of their meeting in the library. He had touched her. He had flirted with her. And she hadn't run away screaming. He'd seen her later at the dinning hall and she'd waved to him. That's a good sign right? A wave? Well, it's better than a slap in the face, he decided.

He felt heat rush to his cheeks as he watched the beautiful red head stretched on the couch. She pulled her arms high over her head and the white shirt road up a little, revealing more of her flat smooth stomach.

This was hell. No doubt about it. This. Was. Hell. James covered his face with his hands. Why couldn't he get this girl out of his head? It was ridiculous. She was just a girl. Nothing special. Okay so she was smart, and funny, and nice. And gorgeous, my God was she gorgeous. The way her nose tilted up at that cute little angle. The way her green eyes sparkled with excitement when she finally figured out a puzzle. The way her thick red hair flowed around her round face. The way her school robes clung to her body. One of these days, those robes were going to kill him. The way that black skirt hugged just the right places was enough to give any male with eyes a heart attack.

But so what, right? There were a plenty of girls just like this one. She really wasn't all that special. She really wasn't anything. He was just going to stop thinking about her and then he wouldn't have to feel like this anymore.

Yes, James decided. He wasn't going to think about Lily Evans anymore. He gave a firm nod of his head and took one last glance in her direction. Okay, he thought to himself, starting… now.

James looked away and started to concentrate on his paper. He grabbed his quill and dipped it into the black ink. He dragged the feather across the parchment, writing James Potter in his loopy and twisting handwriting, taking time on every letter, concentrating. The familiar scrape of the quill calmed his nerves. Okay, he thought with a smile, So far so good. He moved on to the date.

He smiled, pressing dimples into his cheeks. He pushed his glasses up with one finger. He'd already gone a whole thirty seconds without thinking about Lily and she was just right across the common room. His smile widened with pride. He was doing great. He was in complete control of himself. With a happy sigh, he moved onto the beginning of his potions essay. "There are over five thousand uses for eye of newt. While some are deadly, most are harm—" Lily's laughter washed over him and he dropped his quill. He groaned and let his head collapse against the table. "I'm pathetic," he whispered to himself.

He slowly lifted his head off the table and tried to flatten his untamable hair. Okay, so he wasn't in control. But then again who would be, when someone like Lily was lying just feet away.

He snuck a glance at her and sighed. She was sitting up now. Deep in a conversation with Sirius. Her smile was wide, her eyes were sparkling and it was obvious that she was teasing him.

Sirius eyes were filled with unshed laughter as he watched her. James watched the pair and he felt a wave jealousy flow through his stomach. Sirius reached out an arm and pulled the red head towards him. She let out a high scream that was more of a laugh and began to struggle in Sirius' arms. Sirius wrapped his arms around her and began tickling her stomach.

James watched the pair as they laughed and struggled with each other and he couldn't help but feel jealousy creep through his veins. He knew that Sirius would never do that to him. He knew that Lily didn't feel that way about his friend. It wasn't that.

He was jealous because Sirius could touch her. He could laugh with her. And sit next to her and tease her. He was there, her friend. No questions asked. Because he was Sirius Black, Beater Extraordinaire. And who was he to the masses? He was James Potter. Quiet, shy, lonely James Potter. That is if they knew his name at all.

James watched as the pair stopped their game and settled comfortably onto the couch. Lily rested her head on Sirius shoulder and the two talked quietly as they watched the fire.

Sirius and Lily were friends. The thought nearly killed James with envy. He watched the pair as they talked about their day. Lily's head resting comfortably on his best friend's shoulder. Yes, this was hell. And he could only take so much of it.

James stood up and quickly gathered his papers into his bag. He went up the stairs to the common room. It took all the strength that he had not to glance back at the pair on the couch.

…………………………….

Lily lay sprawled out on the couch in the common room. She was trying desperately to focus on the book in front of her. She rolled her eyes, she'd read the first sentence of this chapter nearly twenty times now, and she still had no clue what it said. Something about Peaches maybe. She distinctly remembered the word Peach. Or maybe it was Pear?

With a resigned sigh, she lay the book down on her stomach and stretched. She raised her hands high above her head, trying to release the tension in her back.

She had way too much going on in her mind to focus on her book. First, she was worried about Sirius. The stupid jerk was still in the hospital with Remus. Sirius had looked pretty bad when McGonagall had dragged the pair away. And what about Remus? Was he alright? She knew Remus was strong, but Sirius was tough and years of Quidditch hadn't exactly made his arms weak and feeble. She sighed, the thought of Remus opened up a whole other line of anxiety. What was with the whole Remus-is-an-actual-human-being-and-is-really-quite-nice thing that she discovered in the astronomy tower? Lily asked herself. Which lead to the whole, invisibility cloak thing and her secret suspensions about the Marauders. Which lead to the thing, or person rather, that was really distracting her: James Potter.

Lily didn't know why her thoughts kept leading her back to James Potter and his goofy smile. That stupid smile that always managed to pull her lips into a matching grin. She couldn't figure out why, no matter where she started, she always ended back at James.

Lily snuck a glance over her shoulder at the boy in question. He was leaning over his parchment, a bright smile stretched across his face. Lily felt her own smile begin to widen. See, she thought to herself. Why does he always have that effect on me?

She was saved from having to answer her own question when someone shoved her legs off of the couch. She looked up to see Sirius Black looming over her. He flashed his mischievous smile at her and through his arms out to greet her.

"Honey," he said, his voice light and happy, "I'm home." He wrapped his big arms around her in a bear hug, lifting her off the couch.

Lily's deep and bubbly laughter filled the room and she wrapped her arms around her friend. She pulled back and examined him as they sat back down on the couch. Her eyes searched his face and noticed that there were no signs of the earlier fight left on his handsome face.

"So, you're all checked out."

"Yep," he said with a wide grin, "God, Lil. I was going crazy in there. Cabin Fever."

Lily raised an eyebrow at him, "Sirius you weren't even in there for a day."

"It felt like a lifetime," he said dramatically, raising a hand to cover his face. He spread his fingers and one of his deep blue eyes peered out at her between his fingers, "It was Hell. And you didn't even come to visit me."

"If you think that was hell, wait until you have to make up for all the work you missed," Lily said, lightly smacking him in the stomach.

"Oh," Sirius said, a smirk resting on his full lips, "But I already have a plan for that."

"Oh really," Lily said watching him closely, immediately knowing what that look meant, "And what exactly is your plan?"

"You, my dear."

"No."

"Lils," Sirius whined, his voice high as he pushed out his bottom lip, "pretty please."

"No."

"Pretty please with a chocolate frog on top."

"No Sirius."

"Why not?" He said as he made his bottom lip quiver.

Lily rolled her eyes in response. "Because this is entirely your fault. You're the one who picked the fight. You're the one that's responsible for missing class. I'm not going to help you. You deserve to be punished."

"But Lils," he pleaded, "Minnie's already taken care of the punishment, remember. Don't you think she knows what's best. Besides, what if I fall behind in all my classes and then I flunk my O.W.L.S. and can never become an Auruor. And I have to work as a Janitor at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of my life. Would that be punishment enough for you."

"Fine, Sirius. I'll help you. But I'm not doing the work for you. I'll just be there for help." Lily said with a wave of her hand.

"That's all I would ever ask for," he said, his smirk having melted into a would-be-innocent smile.

"Right." Lily said shaking her head and settling back into the couch.

"Hey, Lils?" Sirius asked after a silence.

"Hmm?"

"Your not really mad at me are you? About the fight?"

Lily paused, thinking about her answer. Was she angry? "No, Sirius. Just, could you try not to get you ass kicked again any time soon."

"What did you say?" His eyes filled with mock offense.

"I said please try not to get completely demolished by Remus in the next few days."

"I will have you know that I was the victor of that battle."

"Un hun. Whatever you say Sirius." Lily said with a smirk. She loved teasing Sirius. It took her mind off of everything else.

It was then that he wrapped his arms around her and began tickling her. His fingers tickled her sides, forcing her to squirm. Laughter spilled out of her mouth as she tried desperately to get out of his grasp.

"Please," she grasped, her voice full of laughter. "Please let me go. I'm going to throw up."

"Nun-un-un," Sirius said. His fingers still nimbly attacking her stomach, "Not until you say those magic words."

"Please Sirius, I'm going to pee my pants," Lily said, tears were making their way down her cheeks.

"Then you know what you have to do," he said and a high pitched squeal escaped from Lily's wide smile.

"Sirius is an Amazon warrior," she said with a gasp.

"And?" he questioned.

"And he kicked Remus' butt today."

"There we go," he said with a smile, letting her go. "That wasn't so hard was it?"

Lily just rolled her eyes and hit Sirius lightly in the stomach. Sirius glared at her and pulled her to his side. Lily snuggled back into the couch, laying her head on Sirius' shoulder.

The pair sat in silence for a moment, until Sirius said, "Right before I left the hospital wing, Harold Cabot came in."

"To visit you?" Lily asked as she watched the fire.

"No, he was really sick. His whole body was this gross green color and he looked like he was about two seconds away from spewing his dinner all over the hospital wings' floor."

"Ewww," Lily said turning to him, her face scrunched up in disgust, "Thanks for sharing."

Sirius rolled his eyes and poked her in her side.

Lily was surprised when his usual smile left his face, "I over heard the teachers talking. They say it might be awhile until he gets better. They have to wait until some plant matures to make a potion for him."

"What was the name of the plant?" Lily wondered aloud.

"I don't know. Like I ever pay attention in Herbology?"

"Well, what about Quidditch?" Lily asked, realizing that Harold was their star Chaser.

"I don't know," Sirius said solemnly. "We play Ravenclaw in two and a half weeks." He sighed and ran a hand through his short hair, "I thought this was going to be the year we won everything."

"Hey," Lily said, putting an assuring hand on his arm, "It still could be. Why don't you hold try outs for his position."

"Yeah," Sirius said relaxing, "Yeah, that's a really good idea Lils." He turned to her with a mocking smirk, "Since when are you smart."

Lily punched him playfully on his shoulder. She laid her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She took a deep relaxing breath and realized all the tension in her back was gone. Lily smiled, Sirius always had a way of making her forget about all her school work and stress. She smiled a content smile, he was one of her best friends. Lily wouldn't give him up for the world. Even if he was prone to get into knock-down-drag-out fights for no apparent reason and couldn't remember the name of a single plant in Herbology if it would save his life. She smiled, but then again, that's what made Sirius Sirius.

"Hey, Lils?" Sirius asked.

"Hmm?" She said, not moving from her comfortable spot on his shoulder.

"When I was in that fight?"

"Yeah?" She asked opening her eyes and looking up at him. His face was serious and she frowned, not knowing what to expect.

He gave her a small embarrassed smile, "Did I scream like a girl?"


End file.
